Cord fastener

ABSTRACT

A CORD FASTENER OF THE TYPE HAVING A CASING WITH A TUNNEL ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THERETHROUGH TWO CORD PARTS TO BE INTERCONNECTED, A CLAMPING ROLLER FOR THE CORD PARTS MOVABLE LONGITUDINALLY IN THE TUNNEL AND OPERABLE TO CLAMP THE CORDS AGAINST PORTIONS OF SIDE WALLS CLOSER TOGETHER AT ONE END OF THE TUNNEL THAN AT THE OTHER END OF THE TUNNEL WITH A PIN EXTENDING THROUGH A LONGITUDINAL CLOSED END SLOT IN ONE OF THE WIDER WALLS OF THE CASING FOR MANIPULATION TO DISPLACE THE ROLLER FOR CORD-CLAMPING POSITION, THE WIDER WALL HAVING THE SLOT BEING RESILIENTLY FLEXIBLE NORMAL TO ITS PLANE IN LONGITUDINAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE SLOT AND IN THE WIDEST PORTION OF SUCH WIDE WALL TO ENABLE DISPLACEMENT TO PASS THE PIN TO THE SLOT DURING INSERTION AND ASSEMBLY OF THE ROLLER FROM THE ADJACENT END OF THE TUNNEL INTO OPERATIVE RELATION WITHIN THE TUNNEL. A GUIDE GROVE MAY BE PROVIDED IN THE INNER FACE OF THE FLEXIBLE PORTION OF THE WIDER WALL TO FACILITATE PASSAGE OF THE PIN TO THE ASSEMBLED RELATION, AND THE GROOVE MAY BE IN A PORTION OF THE WALL WHICH IS RAISED FROM ITS OUTER SURFACE. THE OPPOSITE WIDER WALL MAY HAVE A RIB ON ITS OUTER FACE ABOUT A LARGE AREA THEREOF. THE NARROW SIDE WALLS MAY BE SHORTER AT THE WIDE END OF THE CASING THUS ENHANCING THE RESILIENCY OF THE RESILIENT PORTION OF THE SLOTTED WALL. THE NARROW WALLS MAY BE SHORTER AT THE NARROW END OF THE CASING TO PROVIDE RECESSES TO RECEIVED THE CORD PARTS IN DIVERGING DIRECTIONS.

Feb. 23, 1971 s. w. BENGTSSON CORD FASTENER 3 Sheets-Shea}. 1

Filed June 5, 1968 IVENTOR TTORNE YS Feb.3,'1971 wsmmssw 3,564,670

CORD FASTENER Filed June 5, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ENVENTOR ENGTSSON TORNEYS Feb. 23, 1971 s. w. BENGTSSON CORD FASTENER Filed June 5. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 BVENTOR TTORNEYS m U m S United States Patent U.S. Cl. 24-126 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cord fastener of the type having a casing with a tunnel adapted to receive therethrough two cord parts to be interconnected, a clamping roller for the cord parts movable longitudinally in the tunnel and operable to clamp the cords against portions of side walls closer together at one end of the tunnel than at the other end of the tunnel with a pin extending through a longitudinal closed end slot in one of the wider walls of the casing for manipulation to displace the roller for cord-clamping position, the wider wall having the slot being resiliently flexible normal to its plane in longitudinal alignment with the slot and in the widest portion of such wide wall to enable displacement to pass the pin to the slot during insertion and assembly of the roller from the adjacent end of the tunnel into operative relation within the tunnel. A guide groove may be provided in the inner face of the flexible portion of the wider wall to facilitate passage of the pin to the assembled relation, and the groove may be in a portion of the wall which is raised from its outer surface. The opposite wider wall may have a rib on its outer face about a large area thereof. The narrower side walls may be shorter at the wide end of the casing thus enhancing the resiliency of the resilient portion of the slotted wall. The narrow walls may be shorter at the narrow end of the casing to provide recesses to receive the cord parts in diverging directions.

The invention relates to a cord fastener, the term cord including flexible members in the form of bands, laces, strings and the like. The present fastener is designed for tightening and mutual connection of two cord parts used in connection with anaraks, south-westers, life-jackets, rucksacks, shopping-bags and comparable equipments which are drawn tight by means of cords and the like. The invention has for its object to provide a cord-fastener with a very simple construction and cheapness in manufacture and which is very effective for its purpose and advantageous in its manner of operation. The invention relates to such fasteners as comprise a casing having a tunnel and a movable clamping roller in the tunnel. A clamping device of this type (U.S. Pat. 1,218,752 of March 13, 1917) is designed for securing a single relatively rigid cable in the casing. In the use of this prior device the cable can be detached only by slackening the pull on the casing by moving the casing backwardly or the cable forwardly relatively to the casing. In cases not permitting mutual displacement of the cable and the casing a particular tool must be inserted into the tunnel for releasing the roller out of its clamping position.

According to the invention the fastener is provided for two cords to be interconnected by the fastener and according to the invention the fastener comprises a casing with a tunnel designed for two cord parts to be interconnected and having a clamping roller for said cord parts movable longitudinally in the tunnel, the tunnel having such a shape that by a tension in the cord parts in one direction of the tunnelsaid parts by the roller are clamped to each of two opposite tunnel walls and upon movement of the roller in the opposite direction the clamping pressure of the roller against the cord parts is reduced so as to enable said parts to be drawn through the tunnel, at least one of two other opposite side walls of the tunnel having a slot extending in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel, an operating member extending from the roller through said slot for manual displacement of the roller from its cord clamping position. Thus the new fastener permits, for example, when used for the mouth of a rucksack, in which use the tension in the cord parts between the tightened mouth and the casing of the fastener retains the roller in its clamping position, that said roller in a convenient manner is manually moved out of said position so as to permit manual sliding of the casing along the cord parts from the mouth of the rucksack whereby said mouth is free for widening.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be made clear by the following description of some embodiments thereof. In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a side view of the fastener, FIG. 2 a longitudinal section of the fastener, FIG. 3 a view of casing of the fastener from the opposite side to that of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 a view of the same casing from above, FIG. 5 a section on the line VV of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 a view of the clamping roller seen in the axial direction and FIG. 7 a view of the same roller seen in a radial direction. FIGS. 6 and 7 are shown on a larger scale than the other figures. FIG. 8 is a side view of a second embodiment of the invention, FIG. 9 a side elevation of FIG. 8, FIG. 10 a section on the line XX of FIG. 9, FIG. 10a is an enlarged detail of the indicated encircled portion of FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 a section corresponding to FIG. 5. FIGS. 12 to 14 are views of a third embodiment and correspond to FIGS. 8 to 10 respectively. FIG. 14a is an enlarged detail of the indicated encircled portion of FIG. 14.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 of the drawings, 10 indicates the casing of the fastener said casing having preferably the shape of a flat sleeve tapering from its one end 12 to its opposite end 11. The through opening 13 of the sleeve, also termed tunnel, has two opposite mutually parallel inner side walls 14 which are wider than the remaining two mutually opposite inner side walls which latter consist of mutually parallel wall portions 15 the upper ends of which merge into Wall portions 16 converging towards each other upwardly, the lower ends of the parallel wall portions merging into wall portions 16 diverging from each other downwardly. Thus the tunnel of this embodiment has three sections, viz. an intermediate section 13 having all inner side walls parallel, a second section 17 tapering upwardly from the intermediate section, and a third section 18 widening downwardly from the intermediate section, each of the three sections having the same distance between the wider side walls 14. The one side Wall of the sleeve 10 has an oblong longitudinal slot or aperture 19 both ends of which are closed. This side wall has also on the inner side a longitudinal groove 20 extending between the wider end 12 of the sleeve and the adjacent end of the slot 19.

In the sleeve or casing 10 a clamping member in the form of a roller 21 is provided, said roller being prefera-bly chamfered on its periphery and being rotatable and slidable in the sleeve. The roller has a short central axle or pin 22 fixed to or made integrally with the roller. By utilizing a certain resiliency of the side wall having the groove 20, the roller 21 with the pin 22 extending into the groove can be inserted into the casing so that the pin will snap into the slot 19. In this position the axial displacement of the roller is prevented by the wider side walls 14 of the casing 10. Before or after the insertion of the clamping roller 21 the parts 23 of the cord or similar flexible member are fitted in the tunnel 13 so that they ice will be placed on diametrically opposite sides of the roller between the latter and the narrower side walls 15, 16, 16' of the tunnel. The wall of the casing opposite to the slot 19 on its outer side is formed with a seat 26 of large area adapted to receive a trademark, advertising notice or the like defined by a surrounding annular rib.

When the clamping roller is in its in-operative position between the tunnel sections and the pin 22 is re ceived by the lower end of the slot 19, as shown by FIG. 1, the cord parts 23 are held in light contact with the side surfaces 15 of the tunnel. By this light contact the clamping roller will always be moved upwards to locking position when the cord parts 23 are pulled in the direction of the arrow 24 of FIG. 2.

If the fastener, for example, is used for closing the mouth of a rucksack one grasps by one hand the free ends of the cord parts 23 and the other hand the casing and moves the fastener upwards in the direction of the arrow 24. In this movement one does not touch the pin 22. The power required for locking or clamping the cords comes from the tension in the cord parts passing through the narrower end 11 of the tunnel to the rucksack since the latter tends to open its mouth and thereby pulls the cord parts above the fastener in the direction 24. When the mouth of the rucksack is to be opened again, one grasps the casing 10 by one hand, disengages the roller from the cord parts by a pressure of the thumb on the knob or pin in the direction of the arrow 25 and then pulls the fastener towards the free ends of the cord parts. In FIG. 1 the parts of the fastener are shown in inoperative and in FIG. 2 in operative position.

The embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 11 has the same characters of reference as the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 7 but is different to the latter regarding some details. Thus the sleeve or casing 10 has no intermediate section 13', and the tunnel section 18 has substantially parallel wall portions 16 which are directly continued by the tapering wall portions 16. The wider walls of the casing are somewhat extended in relation to the narrower walls of the casing at the wider end of the casing as shown at 27. The most important difference is, however, that the converging wall portions 16 of the tunnel have teeth, chamfers or the like 28 (see also the portion of a side wall 16 shown encircled and on a larger scale). The object of this feature is to increase the ability of the fastener to keep the cord parts in the desired position.

The main features of the embodiment of FIGS. 12 to 14 agree with those of the embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 11. A difference of some importance is, however, presented by the latter embodiment. The two opposite narrower walls 29 of the sleeve or casing 10 at the narrower end 17 of the tunnel 13 are each formed with a substantially U- shaped recess 30. The two recesses are provided to receive the cord parts extending through the narrower end of the tunnel which parts in the operation of the fastener extend through these recesses in diverging directions. By the tension in these extending cord parts one wide side of the sleeve 10 by co-operation with the cord parts will be held in bearing contact with the rucksack or the like. Thus the recesses 30 for the cord parts 23 will eliminate a tendency of the sleeve 10 in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 11 to project out from the rucksack or other support due to the tension of the cord parts.

The details of the cord fastener may be varied in many other respects without departing from the spirit of the invention. The casing may, for example, have other shapes than those shown in the drawings. The clamping roller may have a central pin on each side and correspondingly each of two opposite side walls of the casing will then have slots 19 and grooves 20 for the pins. The material of the casing and the roller by preference is plastic material of any suitable kind. At least the wall portion having the groove 20 should be resilient enough to permit the insertion of the roller into the casing and the pin in its slot when the pin is made integrally with the roller.

What I claim is:

1. In a cord fastener having a casing with a tunnel adapted to receive therethrough two cord parts to be interconnected, a clamping roller for said cord parts movable longitudinally in the tunnel, the casing having two spaced apart narrow walls and two spaced apart substantially wider walls connected by and to said narrow walls, the narrow walls "being convergently closer together adjacent to one end of the tunnel and substantially farther apart than the diameter of the roller at the other end of the tunnel and said wider walls being correspondingly narrower at said one end and having wider portions at said other end and retaining the roller against axial displacement from the tunnel, at least one of the wider walls having a closed end slot extending longitudinally substantially midway between said narrow walls, the roller having an axial integral pin to extend through said slot and adapted for manipulation to displace the roller longitudinally in the tunnel within limits defined by the ends of the slot and from a cord clamping position wherein it thrusts toward the closer together portions of the narrow walls, the pin including its free end having a diameter no greater than the width of the slot, said tunnel being unobstructed at its wider end for enabling reception of said roller therethrough,

the wider portion of said slotted wall in its area between said slot and the adjacent widest end of the tunnel being resiliently flexible normal to its plane in longitudinal alignment with said slot and to an extent, having regard to the length of said pin, to enable flexing displacement thereof to pass said pin to said slot during insertion and assembly of the roller from said adjacent end of the tunnel into operative relation within the tunnel and then returning resiliently to lock the pin in said slot.

2. A cord fastener according to claim 1, having a shallow longitudinal guide groove in its inner face extending from the widest end of said one wider wall to and in line with said slot to facilitate passing said pin to said slot during insertion.

3. A cord fastener according to claim 2 said groove being in a corresponding area of said one wall raised from the outer face thereof.

4. A cord fastener according to claim 1, in which the other of said wider walls has on the outer face thereof a raised rib about a large surface area.

5. A cord fastener according to claim 1, in which said narrower walls are substantially shorter than said wider walls at the widest end portions of the wider walls.

6. A cord fastener according to claim 1, in which said narrower walls are shorter than said wider walls at the narrowest end portions of the wider walls and provide notches through which the cords can extend in divergent relation.

7. A cord fastener according to claim 1, in which said narrow walls are shorter than said wider Walls at both opposite ends of the wider walls, whereby both opposite end portions of the wider walls extend beyond the ends of the narrower walls.

8. A cord fastener according to claim 1, wherein said free end of the pin is of convexly rounded form to facilitate utilizing the same to etfect said flexing displacement.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1880 Fenton 24-136.2UX 11/1884 Sailer 24136.2UX

6/1964 Evans 24-126.2UX

FOREIGN PATENTS 11/1923 Germany 24136.'2

3/1927 Italy 24-136.2

3/1920 Davis 24136.2UX 

